The present invention relates to the general field of household furniture and is particularly concerned with a motorized, multi-position reclining chair having rocking and pivoting action and other features to permit ease of access for use of such chairs.
In daily life, chairs are used extensively. Therefore, chairs are typically designed ergonomically to meet the needs of a user""s comfort. The requirements for the design of chairs are becoming increasingly stringent with regard to the correct adjustment of the chair. Indeed, the individual adaptation to the user in order to achieve a correct and comfortable sitting position is now considered crucial. This requirement is important since chairs are typically used over a long period time, with the result that an incorrect adjustment feels uncomfortable and leads to potentially harmful sitting positions. It has thus been long recognized that different users generally have different customs and preferences of sitting, and particularly so with older people. Therefore, there is a need for a chair which can be adjusted according to the users"" requirements and preferences.
One particularly popular type of chair which can be adjusted to suit the preferences of given individuals is the so-called reclining chair. These chairs are typically provided with a separate linkage mechanism for permitting the seated occupant to selectively actuate an extensible leg rest assembly and/or produce reclining angular movement of a seat assembly between upright and reclined positions. There are numerous linkage arrangements which have been proposed in the prior art for controlling the operation of the reclining mechanism for such chairs, as evidenced both by the extensive patent literature and the numerous commercial chairs which are to be found on the market.
A reclining chair generally takes one of two forms. In a so-called two-way chair, the seat and back are rigidly connected; in moving from the upright position to the fully reclined position, the leg rest rises and the seat and back tilt backwards as a unit. In a three-way chair, the back is pivoted to the seat; in moving from the upright position to the fully reclined position, there is an additional tilt of the back relative to the seat. In both types of chairs, the seat is sometimes made to move forward in reclining positions so that the chair can be placed near a wall even though the seat and back tilting causes the top of the back to move toward the wall; by having the seat move forward, the chair need not be placed several feet from the wall. However, this could provide for an uncomfortable chair.
Moveable leg rests for reclining chairs are also well known in the prior art. A moveable leg rest for reclining chairs may automatically be actuated in response to chair movement or may be hand-actuated to extend between a position of use to a retracted or storage position. In the extended position, the leg rest is disposed generally horizontally relative to the floor level in front of the front edge of the chair. In the retracted position, the leg rest is generally disposed in a vertical position and is usually retracted up against the front edge of the chair beneath the seat.
With the leg rest in the extended position, a user may lean back or recline in a chair and place his or her legs on the leg rest, thereby orienting the legs in an outstretched and generally horizontal position. With the leg rest in the retracted attitude, the user sits in the chair normally with his/her feet on the floor, thereby permitting the chair to be used in the usual fashion since the leg rest is retracted up against the chair behind the chair user""s legs.
One common type of leg rest is a type that is supported on the frame of the chair. This type of leg rest is typically actuated by a pantographing linkage type of mechanism between its retracted and extended positions. This type of mechanism includes several linkages which are connected together in scissors fashion to move the foot rest from its relatively vertical position when retracted to a horizontal position when extended and to hold the foot rest in the horizontal position.
This type of actuating mechanism is usually quite complicated, in part because of the requirement that the linkages not only extend the leg rest, but that they also move the leg rest from a vertical to a horizontal position.
Another type of leg rest is one that is supported by the chair seat rather than the frame of the chair. The advantage of this arrangement is that the leg rest and seat relationship stay the same throughout all positions of the seat. However, this type of leg rest also generally uses the complicated pantographing actuating mechanism to extent and retract the leg rest. Furthermore, the actuating mechanism in this type of seat and leg rest arrangement is complicated by the need in many cases to mount the drive means for the actuating mechanism on the chair frame so that the drive means does not move and interfere with other parts of the chair such as upholstery, legs and frame members.
The scissors type of linkage also has other notable disadvantages, foremost amongst which is the safety problem presented by the scissoring action of the linkage itself. Indeed, this scissoring action is capable of causing serious injury such as to a finger or other extremity caught in the mechanism when it is retracted quickly from its extended position. Additionally, the multiplicity of pivot joints in the scissors linkage are all subject to wear and fatigue, often resulting in loosening of the mechanism, with the consequent failure of the foot rest to assume a tightly retracted condition with the chair. Such scissors linkages also have relatively little lateral strength and are subject to easy damage from sideways forces applied to the foot rest when extended. They are also difficult and costly to repair.
Another type of component commonly found, and which selectively locks and unlocks moveable portions to provide a shiftable foot rest, is the so-called Bowden cable assembly which includes a shiftable cable partially received within a tubular jacket. These Bowden cable assemblies are typically coupled with a pivotal handle for shifting the cable between the first and second positions. The handle can be coupled with a rectangular support base which is typically mounted in a chair by cutting a rectangular aperture in a wall of the chair and inserting the rectangular base into the aperture. These types of assemblies are notorious for various drawbacks, including that they cannot be adjusted to various selected positions of comfort because the rectangular aperture precludes any clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the base with respect to the plane of the wall in which it is retained. Also, the control handle may remain in an awkward extended position after the handle has been manipulated to shift the cable for its primary control purposes due to the resulting friction between the cable and the Bowden jacket.
The hereinabove-mentioned disadvantages associated with conventional mechanically controlled tilt adjustment assemblies are further compounded by the prior art when motorizing such reclining chairs. Although there have been numerous attempts to motorize reclining chair operation, the approach which has generally been taken is to provide a motor to achieve mechanically controlled motion. In other words, one or more motors are added to an existing design in order to aid motion of the several elements, but the physical constraints of the prior art linkages are not overcome. What has been done is to adapt motors to existing designs rather than to recognize that the use of a motor allows new types of motion. In those conventional reclining chairs, or recliners, which do not include special leverage, the motor force is derived by the occupant pushing against the back of the chair. The back starts to move, and the linkage mechanisms in the chair cause the leg rest to rise and the seat to be tilted. Prior art motorized configurations have simply assisted this type of sequencing. The present invention takes into account the fact that the provision of a motor to provide thrust not only allows the use of greatly simplified linkages, but also permits a new type of sequencing to achieve further additional advantages.
Another drawback associated with conventional motorized reclining chairs relates to the fact that the proposed mechanisms often preclude rocking and pivoting of the chair relative to its base. This has proven to be most unacceptable since it greatly deters the overall appeal of such chairs. Furthermore, some motorized prior art chairs only allow for tilting of the chair to a preset and predetermined number of angular relationships between the moveable sections of the chair, and this has been proven to be unacceptable to certain users. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved tilt adjustment assembly for reclining chairs, which is provided by the present invention.
Advantages of the present invention include the fact that the proposed motorized reclining chair and associated tilt adjustment assembly allow greatly simplified linkages to be employed, and further control a sequencing which is far more advantageous than that exhibited by prior art reclining chairs in general and motorized reclining chairs in particular. Furthermore, the proposed tilt adjustment assembly is specifically designed so as to be easily retrofittable to most conventional prior art mechanical reclining chairs. The tilt adjustment assembly allows for continuous angular adjustment over a predetermined range as opposed to the discrete angular adjustment required by prior art designs. The proposed tilt adjustment assembly further increases the range of angular motion afforded by conventional designs. Still further, the proposed tilt adjustment assembly is adapted to maintain a proper tension in the linkage mechanisms so as to prevent undue slacking of the leg rest. This feature can prove to be particularly important since, after a chair has been broken-in through usage, the leg rest could refuse to stay put when fully retracted and adopt a frowning look. Recliner mechanisms generally are constructed to operate smoothly through their motions. When the leg rest suddenly becomes loose, it can be banged against the floor when retracted by the user, giving the user an abrupt change in the feel of the movement, which is discomforting.
Still further, the proposed tilt adjustment assembly of the present invention also allows the chair to rock and pivot about its base. This is believed to be a major advantage over prior art designs. The proposed chair also has auxiliary features such as the optional presence of an auxiliary retractable tray, the optional presence of stabilizing abutment pads and the optional presence of an arm rest design adapted to facilitate extraction and insertion from and to the chair.
Another disadvantage of the prior art recliner chairs or chairs that swivel and rock is that it is sometimes difficult for certain user persons to disembark from the chair due to the fact that the chair is freely tiltable and rotatable. It is, therefore, another feature of the present invention to provide such chairs with a capability of positive engagement with a floor surface when a user person wishes to disembark from the chair.
According to the above advantages of the present invention, from a broad aspect, there is provided a tilt adjustment assembly for a motorized reclining chair having a base frame adapted for rest on a floor surface. A seat and a back articulated support linkage are interconnected together for displacement of the seat and back of a recliner chair, there being one of the said seat and back articulated support linkages on each of opposed sides of the base frame and secured thereabove on a respective linkage support frame. An intermediate frame is mounted on the base frame through spring attachment means to impart a rocking motion to the chair. A pair of foot rest linkages interconnect each of the seat articulated support linkages to a foot rest plate. The tilt adjustment assembly comprises a motor-operated actuating rod secured at a free end to a sliding member to guidingly displace the sliding member along a straight axis in a fixed plane and to any desired position along the axis. A pivotal link arm is pivotally secured at one end to the sliding member. A transverse linkage securing rod is secured to a second end of the pivotal link arm and extends transversely thereto. The transverse securing rod has opposed ends pivotally connected to an intermediate link arm of a respective one of the pair of foot rest linkages. Tensioning means is secured to each of the pair of foot rest linkages for applying a restoring force to the foot rest plate towards a foot rest retracted position.
According to a further broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a motorized reclining and rocker chair which incorporates the above-described tilt adjustment assembly. The chair has opposed side arms. Each of the side arms has a base elevated from the base frame above a floor surface, a front vertical frame secured to the base, and an arm rest frame secured to the front vertical frame. A floor-engaging leg is secured to the base under the front vertical frame and spaced from a floor surface. The floor-engaging legs engage a floor surface when a user person applies a downward force on the side arm rest forwardly thereof, causing the chair to tilt forward and providing direct lifting support to a user person between the front vertical frame and a floor surface to stabilize the chair and provide positive disembarkation support to the user person.
According to a further broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a motorized reclining, lifting and tilting rocker chair which incorporates the tilt adjustment assembly. The chair has a lifting and tilting mechanism which is secured to side arms thereof and disposed on opposed outer sides of the seat and back articulated support linkages. Each lifting and tilting mechanism has a displaceable floor-engaging member displaceable from a retracted elevated position, where the chair can recline and rock, and to a lowered floor-engaging position where the chair is arrested from reclining and rocking. A linkage is secured between the floor-engaging member and an associated one of the side arms. A motor-actuated extendible member is secured at one end to a stationary pivot, secured to the floor-engaging member, and at an opposed end to a link pivot connection of the linkage to actuate the displaceable floor-engaging member to firstly cause the floor-engaging member to lower and engage a floor surface and then cause the chair to tilt forwardly.